


Friday (or, Things You Shouldn't Have Learned From the Magic Mirror)

by AnagramRMX



Series: Prince Jay [2]
Category: Aladdin (1992), Aladdin: The Animated Series, Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Child Neglect, Disney Channel Appropriate Levels of Child Abuse, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lost prince, Modern Royalty, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24324544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnagramRMX/pseuds/AnagramRMX
Summary: How Jay found out he was the lost prince of Agrabah, and what followed.Prequel to Dear Jay
Relationships: Aladdin/Jasmine (Disney), Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil
Series: Prince Jay [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756084
Comments: 14
Kudos: 132





	Friday (or, Things You Shouldn't Have Learned From the Magic Mirror)

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read before or after Dear Jay, unless someone complains.  
> Background info: in the second Descendants novel, the kids have to check on their parents for reasons, but when asking the magic mirror where they are, they never actually ask for their 'parents', just them by name or the 'villains', which I think leaves a lot of room for fuckery. As these books are super inconsistent, don’t mind me if I contradict them. Specifically, they ended their adventure and forgot to check where their parents were afterwards and also anything to do with the talismans at all.  
> Takes place exactly a week after the 2nd book.

**_Jay’s Phone_ **

**_10:32 AM_ **

**J:** soooooooo can I ask a favor?

 **Jordan:** what is it this time

 **J:** didn’t quite finish my homework. Just need the last question before class. Any chance I can look over yours during lunch?

 **Jordan:** ive gotta talk to Flora at lunch about last weeks assignment

 **Jordan:** but I’ll let you borrow my binder while I do that

 **Jordan:** IF you promise to help me cut my next video

 **J:** deal

  
  


**_Ben’s Phone_ **

**_11:58 AM_ **

**M:** ugggggghhhhh

 **B:** math is magic class?

 **M:** yes. Why is this mandatory?

 **B:** lol, hang in there. We’re still good for dinner tonight?

 **M:** of course

 **M:** assuming I figure out this problem

 **B:** I’m sure you can do it

 **B:** oh, by the way, I just remembered

 **B:** did you ever figure out why Evie’s mirror wasn’t showing her mom last week?

**M:**

**M:**

**B:** or the other villains?

**M:**

**M:** I’ll get back to you

In Jay’s personal opinion, one of the worst parts of being in Auradon instead of the Isle was probably math.

It wasn’t exactly _harder_ than the math classes they’d taken on the Isle. Considering that math was typically used as torture, and therefore an evil subject, their professor back home had started them on the subject they were on three years ago. But, on the Isle, cheating on exams was not only accepted but encouraged, which meant Jay learned exactly none of it, and between all of his other classes and tourney, he just hadn’t had it in him to stay up later than he already had the night before and finish the last question that he just could _not_ understand.

Unfortunately for him Mal had declared herself too _good_ to let him copy hers (if only so the press wouldn’t talk shit about her over one damned homework question), and Evie and Carlos were both in a different class, leaving him with few options to get it done before class started. Thankfully, Jordan had agreed at the very least, but now he was having to squeeze homework in during lunch, and that was the absolute _worst._

Seriously. It was pizza day. Let him enjoy pizza day.

All the same, he kept looking at the problem written on Jordan’s paper, and although he’d finished copying it in less than five minutes, something still didn’t add up.

He tried to drown out the noise of the quad, specifically Evie and Carlos sitting next to him and talking about…something he’d only heard about half of, but ROAR had come up three times and he really…

“Hey, guys.”

He waved vaguely in Mal’s direction as she sat down with Evie on the other side of the table, continuing to scratch his head over the math problem. Jordan was going to be back any minute to get her binder back, but…

Where did she get that three from?

“Hey, Evie, do you have your magic mirror on you?”

Did she skip a step while showing her work?

“Yeah, why? What’s up?”

Oh man, what if Jordan’s homework was wrong?

“I want to know where our parents are.”

…What?

He looked up, unsurprised that Carlos and Evie were looking at Mal with the same confused look. Carlos glanced around the quad shadily. “What do you mean?"

“Look, the entire… _thing_ with the catacombs got kinda crazy, and Ben just reminded me that we never checked to see if your folks are back where they should be.” She shrugged slightly, and Evie nodded, pulling the mirror out.

Holding it in her hands, she thought for a second before saying, “Mirror mirror, in my hand, show me where our parents stand.”

Jay craned his neck to see the mirror as Evie set it down so they could all see. Their entire adventure back on the isle and not being able to see their parents in the mirror, immediately followed by dragon attacking Auradon, had been kind of a big deal. That he was going to lose even more points in math if he didn’t keep working on this, a slightly important deal, but for the moment, less important than seeing what was going on.

An image started to come into focus, and they all gagged at the sight of a corpse.

“Oh gross, who the hell is that?” he asked, grimacing slightly, until he saw how Evie’s face had paled. “Evie?”

“It’s um…I think that’s my dad.”

The others all sobered and looked at her. “What?”

“It’s…it’s fine, I probably just should’ve worded the spell differently.” She shook the mirror, sending it to the next image before they could dwell on it too much.

Not that Jay wasn’t dwelling on it.

She’d asked for _parents_.

Not Jafar, Queenie, Maleficent or Cruella _individually_.

Parents.

All of them.

He sat up a little taller, brow furrowing. Evie seeing her dead father (which for the record, he had never realized her dad was dead, and he would have to remember for later) was one thing. But if it was going to show all of their parents, dead or alive, this was the first chance he’d had to see who his mom was.

Not that he cared.

It had to be someone on the isle after all, and he honestly couldn’t think of anyone on the isle that he would _want_ to be his mom.

But…since it was going to show them anyway…

The mirror showed Evie’s mom now, the Evil Queen, powdering her nose in front of a grimy mirror. The knowledge was a relief, and hopefully meant the others would still be where they were supposed to be.

Evie shook it again, and the moment the blue-tinted image began to take shape, Mal gripped the mirror while it was still in Evie’s hands and shook, only saying, “Skipping him,” as an explanation.

No one commented on it, and no one really cared when an image of a purple lizard in a terrarium appeared next. The idea that Maleficent could go anywhere when Mal fed her crickets every two days was kind of laughable.

Without a word about it, Evie sent it to the next image, and Jay was surprised when the man that appeared on it wasn’t someone he recognized.

Tan faced, dark hair, clean cut and handsome. He had certainly never been on the Isle.

He nodded in Carlos’s direction. “Is that your dad?”

“Uh, _no_.” Carlos’ answer was just as confused, staring at it. “My dad is…” he trailed off, as if he didn’t really want to admit it. “I think my dad is Will Clayton, back on the isle. Mom never actually said, but-“

“Uh, guys, why are you looking at my uncle in Evie’s Mirror?”

All of them jumped a little, and turned to see Jordan hovering over Jay’s shoulder. Evie scrambled to cover the mirror, but knowing that the Evil Queen was where she was supposed to be, Mal wasn’t particularly concerned about Jordan knowing what they were doing, and asked, “Your uncle?”

“Yeah,” Jordan sat down on the bench next to Mal with a shrug. “I mean, he’s actually my godfather, but I’ve always called Aladdin my uncle.”

Jay’s brow furrowed. Aladdin? He’d always thought he’d recognize his father’s nemesis when he saw him, but apparently, he was wrong. He looked back at his face, before remembering that it was probably more important that they figure out why Aladdin was appearing in the first place.

They all looked at Evie questioningly, who seemed just as confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. I must’ve _really_ gotten my wording wrong if it’s showing us other people instead of our parents.”

“You’re looking for your parents?” Jordan asked.

“Just checking in, seeing how they’re doing,” Carlos answered quickly. “We worry, you know?”

Jordan raised an eyebrow at the statement, but didn’t say anything else about it.

Evie shook the mirror and the image shifted again, and this time showed them a dark-haired woman, sitting primly in a bright, sunshiny office.

“That’s Jasmine?” Jay asked offhandedly.

Jordan nodded. “Mmhmm.”

Evie shook the mirror again.

Still not Jafar – and, to Carlos’s credit, it was in fact Clayton, looking sweaty and disheveled somewhere on the isle. They glanced at Carlos, who just shrugged ambivalently, before Evie shifted the image, this time showing Cruella, strutting through her closet of furs.

Evie shook the mirror again, but when they expected to see Jafar, the mirror went back to its normal, reflective surface, telling them that it had shown them what they wanted, and now it was done.

“Wait, where’s my dad?” Jay asked.

Jordan looked at him, her eyes narrowed. “It didn’t show you Jafar before I got here?”

He shook his head, and Evie answered, “We saw my parents and Mal’s, but…” she shook her head, just as confused as Jay was. “Okay, let me try being more specific…Mirror mirror in my hand, show me where Jay’s father stands.”

Jay watched the mirror expectantly. Not showing him his mom was fine, he guessed, but for it not to show Jafar was…it just didn’t make sense.

When the mirror cleared, the unfamiliar man’s image appeared again. Aladdin’s image.

He just stared for a moment, not even sure where to start with his confusion when he saw Jordan looking over at him, eyes wide.

“Okay, what the hell?” Mal asked.

“Can someone, like, hack your mirror?” Carlos asked, poking it curiously.

But Jay didn’t say anything, instead watching Jordan warily as she looked between him and the mirror, covering her mouth with one hand.

“It…oh sands, you’re…it’s you.”

“Yes. I’m definitely me?” he replied shortly, eyes cutting from her to Evie. “What the hell is wrong with the mirror?”

“There’s nothing wrong with the mirror,” Jordan said, her voice hushed. “It’s…Jay, you’re-“ She looked around for a second before ducking in and hissing, “You’re Agrabah’s lost prince.”

There was a beat before the words registered, and then Jay snorted. “Are you serious? Lost princes don’t happen anymore. How would…”

He trailed off at Jordan’s serious expression, and when Carlos’s eyes sparked with recognition, Jay’s heart thumped a little harder. “Guys?”

“Um…we might have learned something in Royal History,” Carlos started, slowly and still kind of baffled. “Agrabah’s Prince Jabril disappeared before he was two.”

Evie gasped slightly at the reminder. She looked at the mirror in her hand, then up at Jay. “If…you actually look a little-“

“That’s ridiculous,” Jay interrupted waving her off. “You _know_ it’s ridiculous. I can’t be…” He trailed off, looking at Aladdin’s face. In the past, he’d thought he must’ve gotten most of his features from his mother, given how little he looked like Jafar, but…he could see what Evie meant. He could see his own eyes on Aladdin’s face, and his smile too. Maybe if he looked at Jasmine again-

But…

But no. If Aladdin were…

If Jafar weren’t…

He scrambled to stand up. “It’s-no. That’s impossible,” he managed to spit out even as more questions began to form in his head. Jafar had never even told him his mom’s name – was this why? And Jafar had been able to use magic, just like Maleficent and the Fairy god mother, but Jay couldn’t-

“Jay, wait.”

Mal’s voice made him look up, and he realized that he’d grabbed his bag and was stuffing his binder back into it. Mal’s eyes were locked on him, as if trying to find answers when there weren’t any.

He glanced at Evie, who was putting the mirror away to hide the image that was causing this…whatever it was, and Carlos who was quickly trying to finish his food before they got swept away in some kind of disaster situation _again_.

And then there was Jordan, who was still looking at him with some strange kind of awe and-

No.

Nope.

He was not going to deal with that right now.

He didn’t wait for them to say anything else before jerking his backpack onto his shoulder and making a beeline back inside, trying to keep his breath under control. He had math next period, and he was already having a hard enough time with trigonometry without this, if he didn’t-

But if Jafar wasn’t his father-

This had to be a mistake…

But-

The words repeated in his head again and again and again, and sometime between repetitions, he took a sharp turn away from the school and headed for the dormitories instead. His hands shook, so he clenched them into fists and tried to ignore the racing of his heart and the idea that…

He found himself in his room, and for a moment, just stared at everything blankly, still feeling his heart trying to claw it’s way out of his skin.

Because Jafar wasn’t…might not be his father.

He threw his backpack down and moved to open the window, trying not to think of it. This couldn’t be happening. It was absolutely impossible and as soon as he got this…this…whatever out of his system, he’d know why it was impossible and he could go back to class like nothing happened. By then Jordan would have realized it was stupid too, and she’d stop looking at him like he’d come back from the dead, and he could keep being Jafar’s kid.

He just had to get it out of his system and think.

So like any other rational isle kid, he jumped out the window and started to scale the building.

**_Ben’s Phone_ **

**_12:21 PM_ **

**M:** I need your help

 **B:** ????

 **B:** are you’re parents not back home?

 **M:** it’s complicated

 **M:** Evie asked the mirror where our parents were and Cruella and EQ back home, but ~~it didn’t~~ ~~just show us them. It showed them my dad, and Carlos’, and then~~ it didn’t show us Jafar.

 **M:** ~~it~~

 **B:** is he dead?

 **M:** no, we also saw Evie’s dad’s corpse, so that was a thing.

 **M:** but the point is that it showed us Aladdin and Jasmine

 **M:** from agrabah.

 **M:** ~~We didn’t recognize them, but Jordan did and she told us about the entire ‘lost prince’ thing~~

 **B:** ~~what? Why would~~

 **B:** oh.

 **B:** okay. What do you need?

 **M:** Jay flipped out. Evie is going to tell FG so he doesn’t get in trouble for skipping, but we don’t know who else heard us.

 **M:** I don’t want any announcements to go out and make this a million times worse

 **B:** i’ll let my press team know to stop any news they see about you four going through.

 **M:** thank you

 **B:** do you need me to come help in person?

 **M:** No, I think we got it

**_Genie’s Phone_ **

**_12:24 PM_ **

_Missed call from Jordi_

_Missed call from Jordi_

**_12:25 PM_ **

**Jordi:** answer your phone or call me back NOW

**_12:55PM_ **

**Genie:** Is it an emergency? Aunt Jaz and I are in a meeting and as much as I’d like to bail, this trade deal is pretty important

 **Jordi:** it’s about Jabril

 **Jordi:** call me back NOW

****

****

He didn’t know how much later it was, but he’d heard the bells for his fifth period and it still didn’t make any sense. Every time the he thought about how Jafar might not be his father – how the magic mirror that they trusted for everything else they did _said_ that Jafar wasn’t his father - the feeling that he was about to shake out of his skin came back.

It was just...the mirror couldn’t lie. It was just a mirror, and Evie had specifically asked for Jay’s father. But he couldn’t be _Aladdin’s_ kid. He just couldn’t and he didn’t want to be because he was an villain kid and rotten and…

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t.

He and the others had decided they were going to be good and live in Auradon now and he didn’t _want_ to be evil like his…like Jafar. They hadn’t even talked in months.

But that didn’t mean he wanted to be…

Aladdin and Jasmine were royalty for hell’s sake! Jay hardly knew how to act like a normal person, much less a prince. It would be stuffy and they wouldn’t want him there anyway and they’d just be-

He tore himself out of his thoughts again, breathing hard and dropping his head onto his knees where he sat resting against one of the low walls at the edge of the roof.

“What the fuck?” he hissed to himself.

Before he could get pulled back into his downward spiral, he heard the tapping of hard-heeled boots coming up the roof, and he looked up to see Mal’s purple hair popping over the ledge. Her face was serious, and he sighed, knocking his head against his knees again.

“Evie got you excused from class,” she said instead of greeting him.

“Thanks…you didn’t happen to get the next assignment for me, did you?”

“Haven’t gone to class yet, but I’ll get it before the end of the day.”

Neither of them said anything for a while as Mal sat down next to him so their arms bumped together, and he found himself leaning in her general direction.

“It’s ridiculous,” he eventually heard himself say, for what had to be the hundredth time. “I can’t be…I’d know if…”

He trailed off.

In a little place, somewhere way in the back of his mind where he used to be able to ignore it, he did know.

Kind of.

There were holes in his relationship with Jafar he’d always known were there, but tried not to look at. He’d thought that Evie and Carlos had the same ones – not knowing who their other parent was, for example. Though apparently, they did know and it just didn’t matter, while Jay had just given up on finding out who his mom was when Jafar snapped at him the hundredth time he asked. He thought it was pretty normal that his father ignored him, but the Evil Queen and Cruella had never ignored their children, just used them and bullied them. Jafar was interested in him when he brought him things, and then they just…didn’t talk.

“And if it’s not ridiculous?”

Jay’s head popped up, and he looked over at Mal. She didn’t meet his glance, instead looking forward, her jaw tight. “Ya know, if it turns you…really are-“

He huffed out a breath and cut her off. “I’m not. Because even if I wasn’t Jafar’s kid for some…impossible reason, I couldn’t be…” he trailed off, remembering how Jordan looked at him at the lunch table, remembering the faces of Aladdin and Jasmine and…

His heart started pounding again, and he clenched his teeth together, dragging in another breath. “I’m not…” he trailed off again and he threw his head back, taking a deep breath in and looking up at the sun so he’d have an excuse for why his eyes were watering.

“They’re looking for a lost prince. That’s not me.”

He felt Mal’s arm slide over his shoulder, and he rested his head back on it. “It’s okay, Jay. We’re going to figure this out,” she said firmly. “I don’t know how yet, but we’ve got it covered.”

He snorted. “How? What is there to even cover?”

“I…don’t actually know yet.” Mal’s face twisted slightly as she considered, but started to stand when her phone buzzed. “Stay here for as long as you need to.”

She went back off the ledge without saying goodbye, and he watched her go, wondering for the first time what _was_ about to happen. Jordan was the one who knew about the lost prince, who seemed _convinced_ that it was him. She was friends with Aziz, Aladdin and Jasmine’s kid here at school. It stood to reason that she’d be able to call them and let them know.

He grimaced at the thought of them being told that _he_ was their lost prince. Maybe he’d luck out, and they’d refuse to believe it. They’d laugh at the idea, and thank Jordan for her concern, but that couldn’t be true, and they were too busy to even look into it.

The idea didn’t make him feel better.

But even worse was the idea that popped up where they came to see for sure. Where they didn’t understand what Jordan said about it being Jay the son of…Jay the Villain Kid, and came looking expecting their perfect prince son and instead found…

Well…

Him.

The kid who was still in remedial goodness classes and was barely passing math. The kid with sticky fingers that he still hadn’t gotten control of. The kid who had almost been suspended from tourney twice because he forgot himself and hit someone with his stick during practice.

Hell, he was practically a thug.

He shook his head. No, that wouldn’t happen. It…

The idea of them showing up, their faces when they saw him made his stomach turn.

He couldn’t be their kid.

Period.

****

**_Groupchat_ **

**_1:03 PM_ **

**E:** We have a problem

 **M:** ?????

 **M:** How can this already be getting worse???

 **E:** Jordan got to the office while I was leaving. She told FG and had asked for Aziz to be pulled from class

 **E:** and she called her father

 **E:** Aladdin and Jasmine are on their way here NOW

 **E:** and FG didn’t listen to me when I told her J wasn’t okay for them to be here.

 **E:** from what Jordan said, we probably won’t be able to convince them to not look for him either.

 **C:** did you find J?

 **M:** yeah, he’s on the roof and he’s DEFINITELY not okay to see them

 **E:** oh no

 **C:** okay so how do we make sure that doesn’t happen?

 **M:** I don’t know! 

**_2:34 PM_ **

**C:** I think I got it

 **E:** Way ahead of you

 **M:** okay, I don’t care which one of you does it, just do it.

**_3:38 PM_ **

**C:** they’re here

 **C:** and they’re kinda panicking

 **C:** we still doing this?

 **E:** Of course

 **C:** just checking

**_4:23 PM_ **

**M:** okay, maybe only one of you should have done it.

Another bell rang before Jay pulled himself together enough to consider getting down. This was a weird situation, but if he could keep it together, then he had a chance of pretending for the rest of the day like it hadn’t happened. He had free period last anyway, and then they had dinner, and he didn’t want to miss that under any circumstances.

All the same, any time he started to stand, he’d look over the ledge, about to climb down when he thought about Jordan again. She had to be the only person that knew, but even the idea that someone else down there would see him and know the conversation they’d had earlier made him sit back down and groan. He didn’t know what anyone else would think or if they’d even care, but he didn’t want to deal with it right now.

Just as he sat down, he heard something rustle over the roof, and squinted around to figure out what it was. Evie and Mal never wore shoes that let them move that quietly, and Carlos would’ve done it without any noise at all, so what was…

He froze when a figure flipped over the ledge, wobbling a little when he landed before stomping across the few feet between one edge of the roof and the other.

For a second, he didn’t seem to realize that Jay was there, pacing back to the other side of the roof and breathing heavily. But after pausing looking out over the school grounds for a moment, he turned, only to pause when he saw Jay sitting there, eyes going wide.

And Jay recognized him: by the off-white button up shirt, turquoise slacks, and slip on shoes with pointed toes that were only fashionable in one kingdom that Jay knew of; by the thick black hair, dark brown eyes, and brown skin that he’d never thought to compare to his own until today.

Prince Aziz of Agrabah.

 _Exactly_ what Jay needed right now.

He bowed his head again. “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

Aziz watched him silently for a second and swallowed thickly before asking, “What are you doing up here?”

“Hiding, not that it’s done me any good,” Jay grumbled, starting to stand up. “I’m just gonna-“

“You can’t be him.”

Jay stopped when he heard Aziz’s voice crack, and looked up to see how the other kid’s face was flushed and angry. He grit his teeth as Aziz watched him, and instinct told him to brace himself.

“You _can’t_ be him. He’s gone and you…” Aziz huffed and after a split second of staring, launched himself in Jay’s direction.

Aziz was a year younger than him, smaller by a few inches and a few dozen pounds. Definitely not the biggest guy that had ever tried to knock him over, and it wasn’t hard for Jay to spin so that Aziz went hurtling into the surface of the roof, yelping when he hit, and trying to say something else before Jay cut him off.

“Tell that to everyone else! I don’t want to be your fucking…” He heaved in a breath as Aziz rolled back over, looking up at him with wet eyes, still angry about something, still upset, but Jay realized in that second that he could be a lot of things to Aziz.

He had been planning on saying that he didn’t want to be Agrabah’s missing prince. But when he’d thought earlier about the prince Aladdin and Jasmine would expect him to be, he’d clearly been thinking of Aziz. The one who was _definitely_ their son.

The kid that could be his brother

He staggered back, sitting down hard on the roof and breathing hard again. “I don’t want to be him. I _can’t_ be him. Princes don’t grow up on the Isle of the lost or-or get detention for theft and-“

He cut off, looking up and seeing Aziz still watching him, wiping his nose with the back of his sleeve, and Jay hissed. “This is some fucking bullshit.”

Aziz hiccupped, and tried to cover it with a harsh laugh even as he brushed tears out of his eyes. “You think? I just got pulled out of class because my dead brother has apparently been here for months and my parents are downstairs freaking out when we don’t even know for sure-“

“Your parents are here?”

Jay didn’t realize how small he sounded, but it must’ve been pretty tiny, because that made Aziz stop. The expression on his face toppled back into misery, and he looked at his knees

“Yeah. They came right away. Uncle Genie magicked them here from Agrabah.”

Of course they did. Jay didn’t say a word, instead flopping over onto his back so that he was looking at the sky.

They’d come to see him.

Which meant he had more of _this_ to look forward to today.

More of someone being upset that he was him and not a prince or…maybe they’d just see him and leave.

“Well, hope they’re ready to be disappointed,” he said, trying to keep his voice light.

“They won’t be. That’s the point.” Aziz looked even angrier than he had earlier, even with tears spilling out of his eyes and his voice warbling with every other word. “That’s…mom and dad are going to just fall over themselves when they see you.”

“Yeah right. Why would the royal family-”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Jay sat back up, expecting another attack, but instead, Aziz wasn’t even looking at him. He’d backed himself over to the wall, hugging his knees as he choked out, “Do you know how long mom and dad looked for him? You? Sands – they don’t care if you’re a villain kid. You’re alive and…” He trailed off, waving an arm vaguely in Jay’s direction. “You…you’re here.“

Jay huffed. “I thought you said you didn’t know for sure.”

“Oh please, I’ve thought it’s weird how much you look like dad since you got here.”

The images of Aladdin he’d seen earlier flashed into his head, and he tried to shake them out before he lost control of his breathing again. He vaguely noticed the sound of the marching band in the courtyard below them, like nothing else was happening.

“They’re going to see you and they’re going to be devastated.”

Aziz’s words made him wince. “I know.”

“No, you _don’t_. You didn’t do anything. They’re going to see you and think that you’ve been gone for the last fifteen years _on the isle_ , and that it’s _their_ fault, and mom’s gonna cry and...” He paused, sniffing again, before looking back at Jay. “And I just don’t want you to make it worse.”

Jay was about to snort and question what he could possibly do that wouldn’t just make it easier for everyone to hate him, but then down below they heard a dozen dogs barking, and someone screamed.

Both he and Aziz sat up stalk straight, looking at each other for half a second before rushing to the edge of the roof looking over the courtyard.

Down below was the marching band, just as Jay had heard before, but they’d been thrown so far out of formation that it would’ve been hard to tell if not for the instruments. There were more than a dozen dogs running through the courtyard, grabbing things and running up against people’s legs to move them one way or the other. Jay recognized Doug with his trumpet trying to jump over a basset hound and get some modicum of order established, while Fairy Godmother chased after a wolfhound who had taken her keys. Jordan was nearby practically fuming as she and a golden retriever played tug-of-war with her shoe, and then there in the middle…

“Is that…”

“Yep.”

Aladdin and Jasmine. Huddled as close together as they could to keep from getting separated in the chaos.

From the roof, Jay couldn’t make out their features, but he got a clear impression of frustration and distress as they tried to shuffle through all of it towards the dorm. Somewhere else in the courtyard, a dog yipped as the tuba player fell over, and one of the clarinet players swore up and down as they got tackled by a spaniel.

“What the heck?” Aziz grumbled.

Between the band and the dogs and Mal’s earlier assurance that they would handle it, Jay groaned. “Fuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkk. Evie and Carlos are trying to help…I think.”

“Errr, I don’t think Evie’s done…” Aziz pointed, and Jay winced slightly when he saw the blue figure off to the side of the chaos leaning against a wall nonchalantly.

Apparently, Aziz wasn’t the only one to realize she was there, because Fairy Godmother yelled at her over the din, “This is completely unacceptable behavior! You can’t stop us from finding Jay with these…shenanigans!”

Evie’s response wasn’t audible from so far away, but Jay was pretty sure that she was up for the challenge.

Whatever the case, the exchange made Aladdin and Jasmine turn in her direction. Jay could vaguely hear them talking to her, and Evie responding before Jordan yelled again. “You don’t understand, Evie!”

This time, Evie was loud and clear.

“ _I_ don’t understand?! You’re the one who saw your friend having an _existential crisis_ and decided that the best way to handle it was to make it worse! Jay didn’t ask for this and you know he wasn’t okay when he found out-“ she turned to Aladdin and Jasmine, “and I’m sorry – I can’t imagine how hard it is to lose a son or to hear that he doesn’t want to see you, but until I hear it from him that it’s okay, you will not see him.”

Jay winced again. As afraid of he was of seeing them, that just…it didn’t sound exactly…

He realized that all of the dogs had quieted down, sitting as if someone had given the command to be quiet. The band kids had all gathered back at the doors to the dorm, Doug sending them inside so they wouldn’t hear whatever came next.

And Jasmine took a step away from Aladdin to plead with Evie.

“I…I understand, but please. He doesn’t have to talk to us or…and we won’t try to talk to him either or see him afterwards if he doesn’t want to just please – let us see him with our own eyes. We just want to know that he’s…” she trailed off, and Aladdin followed her, putting a hand on her shoulder, and again speaking so that Jay couldn’t hear them.

“I told you.”

Jay looked up to see Aziz gazing down at the courtyard, sounding just…defeated.

“They don’t care. They just…” he waved his hand down at the inaudible conversation, where Evie was standing strong, and Jasmine was stepping back so that her husband could put an arm over her shoulder and…

Jay grit his teeth, imagining just for a second that it was real.

That the kid standing next to him was his little brother, and the couple pleading with Evie over the idea that they couldn’t see him were his parents.

He didn’t know them. He didn’t know what kind of people they were.

They were already better people than Jafar.

And…well…maybe…

Fuck.

He swore, first in his head, and then out loud as he jumped over the ledge of the roof and scaled down.

Fuck, he was doing this.

Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-

The shaking from earlier came back and made his hands slippery as he got to the bottom of the building, his heart pounding hard and fast inside his chest as he stepped onto the courtyard paving and looked at them from a distance.

He could hear them better now, and could hardly breathe as he stepped closer and closer to…

To his parents.

“Is there anything we can say to make you change your mind?” he heard Aladdin say.

Evie didn’t answer right away, breathing steadily, as if she were considering, and Jay bet that if he looked at her, he would see her looking between them, and then at him as he walked up. “I’m sorry, the answer is still no. He has to be the one that chooses when you get to see him, and he doesn’t _have_ to if he doesn’t _want_ to.”

The emphasis was not for them. He could hear it in Evie’s voice that it was for him, giving him an out if he wanted to turn back before they saw him.

Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Jasmine and Aladdin as their shoulders fell, and Jasmine’s head bowed. “We understand. Hopefully…hopefully soon.” She cut herself off and looked back up, and seemed like she was about to apologize when Jay spoke.

“It’s not-“

He cut off sharply when they turned around in shock, sucking in a breath as they looked at him for the first time. He could see tears welling in Jasmine’s eyes as she covered her mouth, and how Aladdin held out a hand as if he wanted to move towards him, eyes wide as he took in his son’s face at sixteen.

Jay swallowed around the lump in his throat, the words in his mouth disappearing. They…these were his…

“Just not right now,” he managed to get out.

Jasmine squeaked slightly and moved a step towards him, stopping immediately when Jay backed away. She opened her mouth, starting to say something before cutting herself off and after another moment, choked out the words, “I’m sorry. Ja-“

She cut herself off again, and Jay realized that for a split second she had started to say his name – not Jay. Jabril. He’d been Prince Jabril before. But before he could sour over it, Jasmine stood up a little taller.

“Jay, I can’t-can’t…I’m so sorry. You…you’re here and you…we didn’t keep you safe and…” She looked over at him, and he could see her trying to find more words, but couldn’t without letting go of the little control she had on her tears.

He knew the feeling nodding slowly. “Um…it’s okay,” he said, not exactly sure how else to respond. It wasn’t exactly…

The thought evaporated as Aladdin stepped forward to take Jasmine’s hand, comforting her quietly before looking up at Jay. His face was stuck between grief and awe – but not quite the same kind of awe that Jordan had had on her face before. Just…amazement that he was there, like he’d wanted this more than anything for a long, long time. “It’s…really really good to see you,” he eventually said, not making anything more elaborate before starting into what he’d surely been saying to Evie before. “We know…we know you aren’t exactly okay with this, and we’re sorry if we freaked you out, but when…if you’re okay with it, we’d really like a chance to get to know you. It doesn’t have to be fast, but…”

He trailed off, and Jay realized he was nodding. “Sure,” he answered, his voice quieter than he expected, and nearly cursed. “Just…maybe not today?”

Aladdin nodded silently, and seemed to be trying to find something else to say when his eyes caught over Jay’s shoulder, and Jay looked in that direction to see that Aziz had climbed down from the roof too. He wasn’t feeling better, arms crossed over his chest so that he could curl up on himself, but he’d wiped the rest of his tears away, and had had a chance to get his breathing evened back out. Jay envied him for that, and watched silently as Aziz shuffled past him and over to their parents without looking up.

Jay knew an exit when he saw one, and he nodded at Aladdin before turning away, ending the conversation and trying to push down the sick feeling in his stomach. Moments later, Evie fell into step with him, linking their arms as they walked towards the doors to the dormitory, and he felt himself steady a little.

“Are you okay?” she asked under her breath.

He shook his head, still feeling himself shake in time with his heart beat. “Thanks for trying to help,” he said to her quietly.

“Of course. Sorry it got…” she stepped around a chihuahua chewing on what looked like an instrument reed. “Out of hand…”

He snorted just a little, and it seemed to settle her a bit.

As they reached the doors, Jay finally risked a glance back, wondering if they were still even there, and felt a lump come back into his throat when he saw they were. Jordan and Fairy Godmother were standing further off as Jasmine pulled out of a long hug with Aziz, taking a moment to smooth back his hair and talk to him quietly, while Aladdin stood nearby.

And for a moment, Jay couldn’t look away.

That was his family.

Apparently.

A little brother who was kind of a jerk, but mostly just didn’t want his parents to be upset.

A mom who wanted to hug and soothe her son even when she was just as upset as he was.

And a dad who…

He paused in his thoughts when Aladdin looked up, noticing him standing at the door and pursed his lips as if he were trying to find something to say or do before just settling with a wave, and a small, small smile.

Jay’s jaw clenched at the sudden jump in his chest, and he considered for a moment before waving back, then turning quickly and closing the door.

**_Genie’s Phone_ **

**_5:45 PM_ **

**Genie:** Any updates?

 **Al:** yeah

 **Al:** I’m not really sure I’m up to talk about it right now.

 **Al:** but it’s him.

 **Genie:** Jordi says it was kind of a mess

 **Al:** that’s an understatement

 **Al:** he doesn’t want to see us

 **Al:** or at least didn’t.

 **Al:** I’m not sure where we landed on that at the end of the day.

 **Al:** But he’s here. That’s more than we had yesterday.

**_Aziz’s Phone_ **

**_8:16 PM_ **

**Jordan:** are you doing okay

**_8:28 PM_ **

**Jordan:** Aziz, come on

**_8:43 PM_ **

**Jordan:** fine, get mad at me for this, that makes a ton of sense.

**_10:32 AM_ **

**Aziz:** hey

 **Jordan:** hey

 **Aziz:** sorry

 **Aziz:** I’m not mad at you

 **Aziz:** just mad

 **Jordan:** so you’re not okay

 **Aziz:** ~~nope~~

 **Aziz:** ~~he turns up and he doesn’t even~~

 **Aziz:** ~~mom and dad are so upset right now because~~

 **Aziz:** ~~I get the isle was~~

 **Aziz:** ~~he thinks they wouldn’t want~~

**Aziz:**

**Aziz:** No, I’m not

 **Aziz:** hbu?

 **Jordan:** in shock, kinda upset, mostly just irritated that the isle kids are irritated with me

 **Aziz:** ???

 **Jordan:** I didn’t realize Jay would react that way. They’re mad that I called them anyway.

 **Jordan:** I know they’re doing what they think is right, but they don’t get it!

 **Jordan:** They don’t know what it was like when he disappeared

 **Jordan:** ~~and it’s been Jay this entire~~

**Aziz:**

**Aziz:**

**Aziz:**

**_Mal’s Phone_ **

**_10:44 AM_ **

**Ben:** so FG tells me that everything got a little crazy

 **M:** ugh you have no idea

 **Ben:** is Jay okay?

 **M:** eh. I think he’s in shock.

 **M:** He’s mostly just quiet, which is weird

 **M:** I know I’d be furious if I found out I’d been kidnapped and forced to live on the isle without my real parents.

 **Ben:** I know you guys still won’t go to the school councilors, but if Jay needs to talk to someone…

 **M:** I’ll remind him, but he’s not gonna go

 **M:** btw, this isn’t gonna have any weird political implications, is it?

 **Ben:** no

 **Ben:** it might if it was Audrey’s family or something, but Aladdin and Jasmine tend to be quieter about things. Family business is family business before it’s political business.

 **Ben:** they won’t bring it up at court

 **M:** okay, that’s good, at least.

 **M:** but I actually meant that the isle was used to hide a prince for the last fifteen years

 **M:** like, I don’t *think* there are any other hidden royals on the isle

 **M:** but like, Jafar managed to kidnap Jay somehow

 **M:** who knows what else he could’ve managed

 **M:** or one of the other villains

 **Ben:** idk, we’ll need to do more investigation

 **Ben:** which will be a problem if we want this to stay quiet for now. The more people know the more likely it’ll get out to the press

 **Ben:** and initiating an investigation without giving proper cause will look fishy.

 **M:** gotcha

 **Ben:** I’ve gotta go, wanna catch dinner tonight since we missed yesterday?

 **M:** wanna get takeout for all of us and eat in the guys room? We don’t really wanna leave Jay alone yet

 **Ben:** That works too : ) TTYL

 **M:** :wave:

Jay had figured that when FG called him into the office that it had _something_ to do with the drama from the Friday before. She’d come to their dorm personally the day before, apologizing for the distress she’d helped cause, and letting him know that he was free to take meals in his room and miss class on Monday if he wasn’t prepared to go. For the most part, he’d wanted to take that and run with it buuuuuuttttt he also had practice that day, and the last thing he wanted was for people to start gossiping about why he’d missed classes two days in a row.

So he’d gone to class. The teachers didn’t know why he missed the afternoon before, but they accepted his homework late, and let him know about any work he’d missed that Mal hadn’t already picked up.

He thought that pretty much covered anything that FG needed to be involved in, so he didn’t really know why else she’d be calling him to the office. But when he walked in, the secretary didn’t take him to see her, instead nodding and picking up an envelope from one of the trays next to her workstation.

“Fairy Godmother says you haven’t been using your mailbox until now, so wanted to be sure that you knew you received a letter this morning,” she’d said, handing it to him primly. “All others will be placed in the box marked with your name in your dormitory.”

He’d nodded before looking at the letter in confusion, and felt his stomach drop out from under him when he saw the neat penmanship marking his name and address, with the Embassy of Agrabah in the spot for the return address.

He’d thought a lot in the last few days about how to talk to Jasmine or Aladdin again. He didn’t really have their phone number, and thought it would be weird to just show up wherever they were staying. He guessed he could ask Jordan or Aziz, but Jordan had been scarce over the weekend, and Aziz was…well…he wasn’t sure what was going on with Aziz. They’d acknowledged each other in the hall, but otherwise, he and his younger brother (which was still fucking with his head) weren’t ready to interact just yet.

He couldn’t imagine many other reasons for a letter than to try and talk to him, though, so he quietly stepped out of the office, staring at the letter for a bit before ripping one end open and starting to read it right there in the hallway.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, the entire format of "Dear Jay" can be attributed to the fact that I had NO idea how to write this section until last month. So I just skipped it and threw everyone into the plot without any explanation and decided not to write any prose with it. But a couple of people asked questions and I finally got a grip on it, so here you go. Hope it answers any questions.


End file.
